> but he's terrible at the thing an enterpreneur is supposed to excel at - generating profits.

I think that is a very narrow definition. Elon as of today is worth 20.7b (Forbes), between you, me and the internet I think he's doing pretty well as an entrepreneur. A better fit IMO would be 'value'.

Profits are what you chase if you are a CEO after quarterly returns and job security. See Amazon [1].

[1]: https://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/031414/amazon-ne...